


just company now (comfort crowd)

by tonysnarks



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Deleted Scenes, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, dudebro bonds, just the 501st looking out for one another, the things i would do for a clone buddy...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:15:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonysnarks/pseuds/tonysnarks
Summary: “Better a soulless clone... than a souled roach.”― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
Relationships: 212th Attack Battalion & 501st Legion, 501st Legion & Ahsoka Tano, 501st Legion & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 111





	1. bubblegum down my throat

**Author's Note:**

> making this fic is cheaper than affording therapy after season seven so enjoy!

ACT ONE: _somehow the bubblegum i blew ended up in your hair and i don’t know if i should tell you or not_

They’re sitting at the edge of the mess hall, passing one of Kix’s ration packs back and forth. The food supply this rotation is measly, and Hardcase finds that sharing his own rations with the medic usually leads to the discovery of hidden gems that the packing line slips in for them.

“You’re not looking well enough,” says Kix. He’s got an energy chew in his mouth — fuji-flavoured, the worst — and watches Hardcase sift through the mess. “Look, it’s all those supply bars I saw already.”

In irritation Hardcase flips the pack over, letting the contents spill across the floor. Kix says something about how stupid he is but these comments usually fly in one ear and out the other — something else has caught his eye, something wrapped in pink. He picks it up to find it’s a packet of gum; small, probably only five or six pieces, but it’s new, and it’s _sweet_ , so how much can Hardcase complain?

“Look at this.” He holds it up for Kix to see, oblivious to the fact that Commander Tano has just taken a seat across from them where Rex is perched. “Gum. They’re putting gum in the packs. How great is that?”

“Gum’s not good for your teeth.”

“My teeth, your teeth, what’s the difference — how big do you think I can blow this bubble?”

Kix rolls his eyes but Hardcase is already chewing, the extra air between breaths going into whatever space he’s puffing up. It doesn’t take long for the gum to expand larger than his head and he’s about to push it even further when somebody behind Hardcase bumps into him; the bubble bursts, right into the back of Ahsoka's montrals.

Hardcase immediately covers his mouth to smother a shriek — thankfully Kix coughs loudly, knocking his armour in imitation of a sound much like gum snapping, so when their commander turns around there’s not a speck of doubt on her face.

“Kix, you okay?”

He nods, spluttering violently and hitting his chest plate like a feral animal while Rex, sitting across from Ahsoka, stares with his mouth agape.

_No,_ his captain mouths. _Is it on her?_

Hardcase nods. It's pretty clear that there's chewed-up gum stuck to the Padawan, vividly pink against the white of her montrals while Kix's sputtering turns into muffled giggling. Hardcase thinks briefly of letting Commander Tano know but the look on Rex’s face tells him that he’s going to do it anyway; Hardcase takes the spare moment to tap out from Kix and leave the room. Consequences be damned, he needs a place to scream with laughter alone.


	2. sleep it off, captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fives knows rex better than anyone. post-umbara.

_act two: you look like you haven't slept in weeks and i'll be damned if i don't get you to bed_

Ever since landing on Coruscant yesterday, Rex’s felt like he’s been in a fog. The adrenaline of taking Krell into justice has finally faded, and now he doesn’t know what to do with himself while he thinks about the compassionate leave they gave the 501st as well as the battalion’s mental state; Rex spends long hours walking around the city without taking any of it in. He’s not even sure which sector he’s in when someone calls his name and he doesn’t hear it until it’s right behind him.

He turns around to find Fives, still wearing his dirtied ARC-armour from Umbara. Normally, seeing him causes a warmth in Rex’s stomach, but today his stomach stays cold.

“Almost thought I had the wrong brother when you didn’t react,” Fives says cheerfully. “I didn’t see you leave the barracks.”

Lately Rex has been quick to a tickle in his throat, even if it doesn’t affect his tone. Noticing his lack of reply, Fives gently touches his shoulder. “Hey, everything alright?”

It takes a couple of tries to even speak, but eventually he manages to get out, “I’m good, Fives. Just haven’t been able to sleep since — since —“

He’s mortified that he can’t finish a sentence because he yawns — in public, with people around, in front of his brother — but he finds he can’t stop it. Fives looks like he might laugh but stops, like something in Rex’s face makes him think twice.

“Are you okay, captain?”

No one’s asked him that since they were rescued. Rex looks at Fives, _really_ looks at him, and finds that face he’d once thought of as all sharp grins is soft with worry and probably his own grief.

“You look tired,” Fives admits.

Rex nods. Slowly. “I am.”

After a pause Fives bobs his head, looking around at the faceless citizens that pass them over as nobody other than clones. “Let me walk you back to base,” he offers. “Nobody’s taking a sleep shift, they’re all out drinking.”

Rex considers fighting him; the city is loud and drowns out his thoughts, but he figures if _Fives —_ of all people — thinks he could use some shut-eye from the rush of it all, he should take advantage of it. He’ll let his brother lead him back to base, just this once.


	3. oh, i'm just a kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dispatched to kamino, rex runs into some troublesome cadets.

_act three_ : _we bump into each other and you've stolen my (wallet) - just hand it back_

After their reconnaissance on Kamino, the planet holds a certain level of nostalgia for Rex, and it’s a feeling he allows himself to indulge in when the battalion is assigned there. It’d be nice if he got to share it with the 212th, but somehow their missions never align with the 501st in this space; Cody spends more time in Coruscant with General Kenobi than with his brothers.

_Landed in Kamino_ , Rex holomessages Cody, squinting at his communicator in the glare of the sheer Kaminoan lights. _Some of the cadets are asking about you._

He hits send, and almost immediately his comm goes flying out of his hands as two young cadets barrel into him one after the other, knocking Rex to the floor.

“Sir! Sorry, sir,” says the first boy, all wide eyes, standard cropped hair. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” says Rex. He reaches for his comm, which, miraculously, is also fine, and gets to his feet. “Just — watch where you’re going, okay?”

“We will,” says the other boy, brushing back a strand of brown hair from his face as he picks up a discarded glove off the ground. “I’m really sorry. _Tag_.”

He strikes his friend with the glove, who groans in dismay, lunging back. “Come on, that wasn’t fair!”

“You’re still it,” crows the cadet, and Rex watches the two of them run off again with a smile. Cute.

It’s only when he’s heading back to the barracks for a sleep shift that he discovers his holsters are empty. Of _course_ his blasters are gone. Fives pulled the bumping-into-you-to-pickpocket-you trick often enough (“ _just practicing_ ,” apparently) that Rex feels stupid for not realizing that’s what happened.

He backtracks to where the boys had bumped into him. Luckily the other wandering troopers are pretty observant of runabout cadets - Rex just needs to ask around before he finds himself being lead to a simulation arena, which is a newer archive he doesn’t remember from growing up here. Inside, he finds the two boys laughing over some holopad.

Rex marches up to them — no hesitation in mind — and props his hand up. “My blasters?”

They whip around, eyes widening with surprised guilt. The brown-haired cadet reacts first. “Are you nuts?”

“No, I’m missing my blasters,” Rex says patiently. He’s dealt with the rowdy bunch before; he was part of one himself, before the sergeants drilled regulation and rule so hard into his head that it’s become more than second-nature by now. “And I think you two know where they are.”

“What makes you think we’d take something of yours?” asks the other boy, putting his hands on his hips.

“I _know_ the misdirection trick. Just hand ‘em over now, kid, and I promise I won’t call your squadron leader.”

The boys turn to each other and confer with only eye contact; while Rex can’t read it, he can tell they know each other well, the way he knows Fives and the way Fives knows him. Eventually, the cadet lowers his hands and fishes the two twin blasters out of their back uniform pockets. Rex is sure to secure his holsters closed after he puts them away.

“We wanted to see a gun that doesn’t have the safety permanently locked on,” Brown Hair mumbles.

“That’s alright,” says Rex. “Just don’t let this happen again, alright?”

They nod sullenly. Rex gets the feeling that it’s going to happen again and they’re just going to try harder not to get caught, but with Fives for a brother, he doesn’t like being too hard on what he’s guessing are undisciplined cadets.

He starts to leave, but when he’s by the door, he glances back: The boys are are smiling as they discuss something, and then they lean in to high-five.

Rex hides a smirk as he turns away. They might be pickpocketing kids, but at least they’ve got each other.


	4. polaroid pictures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rex finds a picture of baby anakin. he wish he hadn't.

_act four: look at this embarrassing pic lol_

“Is that General Skywalker?”

Rex immediately swipes the holo closed, realizing that the shuttle back to base probably wasn’t the best place to look at the photo Ahsoka forwarded him (he’d thought Jesse was polishing his blaster, and Kix is busy ordering bacta patches), but Hardcase unbuckles his seatbelt and lunges across the ship to open it up again.

“Oh my god, it _is_ Skywalker!” he squeals, sitting next to him. “With a little _braid_ , and he and that guy look so _young_ \- what is this, from his Padawan days?”

“Lower your voice,” snaps Rex, then sighs, grudgingly. “About five years ago.”

It shows in the photo how old it is - the quality is grainy and the holo flickers terribly every few seconds, but it’s recognizable enough to see the details in Anakin’s pre-teen face; his button nose and hooded blue eyes still apparent. He's wearing robes too big for him and looks upset about being pictured next to the neat-looking man beside him. It feels kind of wrong to look at, like Rex walked into a room where Skywalker was half-dressed.

“Is that Kenobi?” asks Jesse a few feet away.

Hardcase nods vigorously. “That is adorable,” he says gleefully. “Look at his fresh little babyface.”

“No beard,” adds Jesse. “Mullet, too. I’m liking it.”

“How did you get this, anyway?” asks Hardcase.

This flight would take a while. “The kid sent it to me. It was attached to her last briefing.”

“I can’t believe you two,” says Hardcase. "Conspiring against your own general."

Rex shrugs. “We like to keep tabs on him, in case he needs blackmailing.”

“That’s traitorous to the Republic.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go help Kix with those commission forms.”

Hardcase does a little mock-salute that is so offensive that Rex could do a week of etiquette training on it when the cabin door slides open behind them. The general appears, and Rex is suddenly aware that his holo is still open on the table.

He’s about halfway to slamming the power button when Skywalker flares in surprise, “What is that?”

The photo disappears in Rex’s fist as he straightens up. “Nothing, sir.”

The general lets out a low whistle. “I never took you for a liar, Rex.”

Rex stares at him for a moment, then says, “I’m not.”

He hears a smothered a laugh. Skywalker bristles and waves a hand, turning the holo back on, and the picture reappears. There’s a beat of silence as something passes over the general’s face and Rex very much feels like sinking into the floor.

“Snips sent you that?” asks Skywalker.

“Um,” Rex says, feeling hot.

The general puts his hands on his hips - a familiar stance when he needs to think - and squints a little at the flickering photo. “Can you forward it to me? I want to show Obi-Wan.”

Rex just about keels over when he says, “Of course, sir.”

Skywalker nods, then shoots them all a thumbs-up before shutting the cabin door behind him.

A moment of quiet - and then both Hardcase and Jesse burst into raucous laughter, doubling over and cupping their knees for strength, mimicking Rex’s “um” and dead-set stance. They only stop when Rex barks that they’re being put on maintenance duty for a month, and if he even so much hears the word “Padawan” out of their mouths, he’ll write them both up.

There could be worse consequences, he supposes, as he unwillingly opens the holo back up and tells Ahsoka to be more transparent about the content of her briefings.


	5. ghost of you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-citadel, fives copes with his loss.

_act five: a lingering reminder of you_

Fives sits down heavily as soon as the door closes.

Echo’s gone, and this time it’s far more likely that he’ll never see him again. There were a few times when they’d been deployed to opposite sides of the galaxy, and there was that one in a million chance of being kidnapped, or reported missing, or dead, or whatever it may be. Now, Fives will have to not only survive whatever’s on the other side of the galaxy by himself, but get through this fucking shore leave alone.

He bunches his fists in the sheets and inhales. It smells like plastoid and it smells like aftershave and it smells like _him_ , that slightly metallic tang Echo carried that Fives will never smell again. Not unless he opens that doors and pilots the ship back to the Citadel himself in search of a body, but he knows he can’t, he won’t. 

He tries to decide what hurts more - his closest batchmate is gone for real or he’s still alive out there, probably under Separatist capture and being kept as hostage.

Flopping back onto the bed, he checks the time and sends a message to Jesse, and tries to convince him to go for a drink on their leave. It’s times like this, one of the hardest things he’s ever done, that he wishes he had Echo’s logic, because while he should be resting, he’s trying to ignore it, trying to grab the chance to wash his sorrow down with booze.

Jesse must know what he’s thinking because he messages back and asks if that’s the best thing to do right now.

_worried about u,_ Jesse writes, and the subject’s gotten well away from moving. _u sound upset_.

God, he’s pathetic. One hour back from the Citadel and he’s become this sad shell again. He takes a deep breath. There’s no use hiding it from Jesse, but there’s no way he can reveal all the details of what happened.

_there was an explosion on the mission_ , he replies. _echo was in it. i couldn’t go back for him_.

_i’m sorry._

Fives sighs.

_i’ll keep him in my thoughts. i hope for ur sake he’s alive_.

Fives takes a deep, shuddering breath of Echo’s lingering scent, and writes back, _that’s all i can ask for. thank you_.

They chat about lighter things for a while, about Coruscant and shore leave, before saying their goodbyes and signing off. Fives rubs his chest absently. There’s pain medicine with Kix but he doesn’t move. This ache isn’t going to get any better.


End file.
